Your 2024 style update: Everyday Pearls
THeSe are the days to sort your everyday underpinnings: the unseen ones (bras and pants), the halfseen ones (tights and layering tops) — or you could skip those and go straight to your essential 24/7 jewellery.
Brace for what I’m about to say. The quickest way to freshen up your look for the new year, your guaranteed skin- enhancing, illuminating spritz of prettiness on a gloomy January day, and for all the days ahead, is a simple string of pearls.
Doesn’t sound like you? That’s because you’re thinking 1980s pearls: fat chokers made of blueberry-sized creamy pearls; long flapper ropes of pearls wrapped around your neck and then knotted; or the single strand of perfectly spherical graded pearls that the late Queen always wore.
You’re picturing Dressing Up pearls, whereas the pearls we’re going to be wearing are everyday with everything — the equivalent of a gold chain or a pair of gold hoop earrings, and roughly the same price.
They may even cost nothing, since if you’re over 55 there’s a good chance you have some pearls tucked away in a drawer. And if you’re younger, your mum probably does.
I recently asked a twentysomething shop assistant where her pearls were from (a short necklace nestled above a few chains and pendants) and she answered bashfully: ‘Oh, they’re my mum’s. She’s not happy I’ve pinched them!’
And that nicely sums up the new position of pearls. Twelve months ago, her mum couldn’t have cared less if her daughter had pinched her pearls. Last year, pearls were for the kids to layer, boys included.
But now pearl necklaces are like colourful Gazelle suede trainers — great whatever your age, and the detail that makes you look a bit in-the-know.
PEARLS are flattering, too, somehow lighting up your face, which is probably the reason pearl drop earrings have been the hottest jewellery item of the past couple of years.
The smaller the pearls, the better they are for stacking with pendants and chains. The bigger and more symmetrical they are, the more oldfashioned they’ll look.
Soft white pearls are the ones having a moment, not the deep cream ones which can look like something rented from the theatrical outfitters. Likewise, avoid bright white: it looks too fake and doesn’t flatter skin in the same way.
If you can’t find any at the back of the drawer, you can now buy pearls at any price practically anywhere on the High Street, from John Lewis’s classic freshwater pearls (£115, johnlewis.co.uk) to Jon richard’s natural seed pearl necklace (£22, johnlewis.co.uk) and Accessorize’s seed pearls (£20, accessorize.com).
On trend mid-market jewellery shops such as Mejuri have whole sections devoted to pearl jewellery. Its Tiny Pearl necklace (£98, mejuri.com) is designed to lie just above the collarbone so it’s always visible, even above the neckline of a round-neck sweater.
Other places to look for quality freshwater pearl necklaces include Missoma ( missoma. com) and Astrid and Miyu ( astridandmiyu.com).
Meanwhile, & Other Stories does a delicate 15-inch pearl necklace (£35, stories.com) with an extension chain. A bit of chain in the mix is all to the good. These new pearls are not traditional or ‘for best’, so ringing the changes can work.
If you are mixing up your pearls — and I prefer them this way — & Other Stories has a half chain, half twostrand organic- shaped pearl necklace (£35) or a single pearl strand interspersed with a few flat, gold-toned beads (£29).
Moving up the price scale, I like Monica Vinader’s mini gold nugget and pearl beaded necklace (£ 125, monicavinader. It’s adjustable between 16 and 18 inches, so you can wear it just on your collarbone or lower.
Don’t be tempted to go for coloured stones or crystal and pearl combinations. That’s too flash. The more dressy and polished looking the pearls, the less useful they are — though that is not to say there isn’t a place for them.
I recently saw a woman wearing a long rope of organic (irregular shaped) pearls over a plain dress. Could catch on. Who knows, by the summer this might be our new neck protector for weddings.
Something to remember: either wear a pearl necklace or pearl drop earrings, but not both together. And pearls always look better against the skin — don’t wear your necklace on top of your polo neck.